Focus on the intestinal "weight loss" risk strategy
An online store sells various "intestinal row" solution packages as well as enema aids.
Who would have thought that water and coffee can "cure" the intestines?
This type of health-preserving program called "Intestinal Therapy SPA" injects liquids such as warm water and coffee into the intestines of consumers from the anus to achieve the effect of "detoxification and weight loss" claimed by the business.
29-year-old Yang Hong, although she only occasionally suffers from mild constipation, she "read so many good reviews of'colon therapy'" and decided to try it.
During the whole process for about half an hour, Yang Hong did not experience much discomfort.
After a tube enters the anus, warm water begins to pour into the intestine.
Unlike the hospital enema, a color screen is attached to the other end of the tube, which displays the water volume, water temperature and time.
In the screen, she can see how the warm water from the instrument flows in her intestines, and finally removes the stool like a stream washes away the "mud".
"The taste is heavy visually, but I feel a little comfortable in my heart." Yang Hong couldn't find a suitable word to sum up this experience, but she had a strong sense of control.
Youngest 13 years old, "safe liquid" enema
An Internet group buying platform shows that in Beijing alone, there are more than 10 shops that clearly provide "colon therapy SPA" services.
Among them, some stores have a silver logo certified by the platform.
According to the listing rules announced by the platform, the silver medal is obtained based on comprehensive calculations such as store product richness, customer satisfaction, and transaction enthusiasm.
What is the difference between "Enterotherapy SPA" and hospital enema?
The publicity information of a shop shows that the hospital uses some chemical reagents, which are not only easy to be dependent, but also have poor safety and a higher risk of accidents; and the machines used in beauty salons are comfortable and safe liquids will not cause people to rely on them. sex.
In the experience notes and consumer evaluations on the Internet, the rate of appearance of the bowel therapy machine is very high.
This is a C-shaped device. Consumers lie inside the machine and can see the whole process of enema on the screen directly opposite.
A reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily contacted an agent that sells commercial bowel therapy machines. The agent told reporters that a bowel therapy machine is about 20,000 yuan, and training will not take a long time. “Installation plus training is basic It was done last day".
He revealed, "Combined, the cost of a bowel treatment is about 20 yuan."
In a residential building in Chaoyang District, Beijing, the reporter found a "colon therapy SPA" shop.
According to the store, the "safe liquid" they use is "nano-molecule water."
In addition to the 30-35 minutes "nano-molecule water" enema, a 15-minute probiotic water enema is included in a "colon therapy" package priced at 388 yuan.
The store suggested to reporters, “Clean the intestines for the first time for 3 days, and then every 2 to 3 weeks.” Many customers do it 3 times in a row, and they lose about 7 kilograms.
And the "safe liquid" used in shops is "mineralized small molecule water".
As for the difference between "mineralized small molecule water" and ordinary water, a customer service responded to the reporter, saying, "This is developed by a machine manufacturer, and no specific comparison has been made."
"This is a pseudo-concept." Chen Wenpu, deputy chief physician of the Weight Loss Clinic of the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, said in an interview with reporters that there are many types of minerals. Whether or not minerals are actually added will not be discussed for the time being. If it is not clear what kind of minerals it is, There is no way to talk about the effect.
"The irony is that if the calcium ion content is too high, it will aggravate the user's constipation." He said.
Chen Wenpu said that the enema is actually a medical treatment, in which fluid is inserted into the colon from the anus through the rectum through a catheter to relieve stool and exhaust.
Enema therapy has clear indications and is mostly used for patients with intestinal obstruction or severe constipation.
However, the customer service of multiple "colon therapy SPA" stores said that "a lot of young people" came here, and many of them were for "detoxification and weight loss."
In the impression of a store owner, their youngest customer is "13 years old."
"Big and complete" enema supply chain on e-commerce platform
Search for keywords such as "intestinal therapy" and "enema" on multiple e-commerce platforms, and you can find all kinds of needs in the enteral therapy chain such as household enema bags and enema solutions.
In this massive selection, the reporter found that warm water is only the "first-generation product" of enema.
A shop provides probiotics, green tea powder, coffee and other solutions for enema use, and the price ranges from tens to thousands of yuan.
For example, when the customer service introduced "Pure Plant Green Tea Powder", "Enema green tea powder has the effect of repairing the intestinal mucosa, and pure plant extraction does not have any additives and dependence."
Consumers who purchase the "enema package" here need to fully control the enema time, speed, water temperature and water pressure by themselves.
"The rate of infusion can be controlled by yourself. Slowing down the rate of infusion is good for long-term patience," said the customer service of the above-mentioned store. "Experiments have found that after the stool is removed from the intestines, the weight of the enema can be reduced by 1-15 kg."
Zeng Weigen, the attending physician of General Surgery of Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, once explained that enema can promote defecation, but it is only suitable for very severe constipation. It cannot achieve the effect of weight loss or beauty.
However, the seemingly immediate effect still attracts many people, and some Wechat merchants even set up "check-in groups".
A blogger who claims to be an "anti-aging expert" wakes up at 2:55 in the morning for a run in the WeChat group, and then leads product distributors and other group members to give coffee enema.
In the blogger’s "knowledge sharing", coffee enema can not only "beauty and nourish the skin," it can even solve various problems such as fever, allergic dermatitis, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Regarding the symptoms such as "pasty", "nausea" and "insomnia" reported by members of the group, the blogger's "explanation" is quite graphic: "This is because the corrupt bacteria in the stomach are struggling at the end. They call out, please don't Get me out of the body, and I will continue to multiply and destroy your cells in your body. So when they are driven away, they will make you miserable, make you sleepless, and make you give up."
This "explanation" did not convince Dr. Chen Wenpu.
In his opinion, the caffeine contained in coffee can easily stimulate the fragile intestines, promote intestinal peristalsis, cause the body's water and electrolyte disorders, and even cause irreversible damage to the body.
Wang Siping, deputy chief physician of the Nutrition Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, said that he has never used or heard of coffee enema in clinical practice.
He also said that the rectal mucosa will absorb caffeine. As for the therapeutic effect, he believes that this statement is unreasonable and "there is no therapeutic effect."
Medical behavior has become a beauty and health project, which is dangerous
Not only can it be "fully self-service", but there are also "semi-self-service" services in physical stores.
"Safety and privacy protection" is exactly what some businesses promote: consumers can not only see the discharge of waste in the intestines, but can even operate the "intestinal therapy" machine autonomously, without the presence of staff.
A staff member of a major self-service "colon therapy" store told reporters that even customers who came to the store for the first time can plug the tube of the bowel therapy machine into the anus by themselves, "This is not difficult. If necessary, we will help. "
This worries professionals.
"Hospitals dare not ensure the absolute safety of invasive operations, let alone beauticians and consumers without medical qualifications?" Chen Wenpu said that if the necessary basic examinations are not performed, the enema may induce bacterial infections, sepsis, and even the intestinal wall. Rupture, bleeding, perforation.
On December 20, 2021, the People's Court of Hanjiang District, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province announced a criminal case verdict.
Sun was engaged in enema diagnosis and treatment activities in the "Water Therapy Colon Cleanse Detox Health Center". When Liu was enema, Liu had abdominal pain, blood in the stool and other symptoms. He was diagnosed with rectal perforation by the hospital. The composition of Liu's injury Nine degree disability.
In the end, the court found that Sun was guilty of illegal medical practice and was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment, one year of probation, and a fine of 1,000 yuan.
It is not uncommon to see "enema accidents" in health and beauty institutions on the judging documents website.
"'Enema' is a medical act. Operators providing'enema' services need medical institution qualifications, and service providers need to have medical staff qualifications." Senior Partner, Life Science and Health Medical Law Department, Beijing Jundu Shanghai Law Firm Attorney Zhang Wenbo, the director, stated that if enema service providers fail to follow the corresponding diagnosis and treatment standards when providing enema services and cause personal injury to consumers such as intestinal perforation, they shall bear the corresponding personal injury tort liability.
If the service provider does not have the corresponding qualifications for diagnosis and treatment, in addition to civil compensation, it should also bear corresponding administrative responsibilities.
If the circumstances are serious, if the death of the customer is the direct and main cause, the relevant criminal liability shall be borne.
He stated that the "Administrative Measures on Medical Advertising" clearly stipulates that the manifestation of medical advertisements must not contain content involving medical technology, diagnosis and treatment methods, disease names, and drugs.
Therefore, if the store exaggerates the claim that enema can prevent cancer, lose weight, detoxification, etc., it is suspected of constituting an illegal medical advertisement.
In Chen Wenpu's view, many unscientific ways to lose weight are eager for quick success and unreliable.
After summarizing his more than 20 years of medical experience, the principle of weight loss could not be simpler-a balanced diet, reasonable exercise, and a regular schedule.
When obesity affects your life, you should consider medication and surgery.
He believes that in addition to the strengthening of the supervision of beauty institutions by the relevant departments, it is very important and urgent to improve the public's health literacy.
"If you want to maintain your intestinal health, enema is by no means a long-term solution. To lose weight, you still have to return to the source of life, develop good living habits, and give yourself the control of your body, so that you won't be stumbled."
Chen Qian, trainee reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily Source: China Youth Daily